One of Bridging Finance Inc.’s worst-performing loans was advanced to a business partner of Jenny Coco, the private lender’s majority owner, and the debt has languished on Bridging’s books for a decade, The Globe and Mail has learned.
Two years later, in 2014, part of the loan was assigned to the Sprott Bridging Income Fund, which was an investment vehicle Bridging co-created with Sprott Asset Management to appeal to retail investors. More of the loan was subsequently transferred to this retail fund. However, Bridging Finance is currently under investigation by the Ontario Securities Commission and potential conflicts of interest have been a key focus of the probe. The regulator also placed Bridging under the control of a court-appointed receiver in April, 2021, after discovering several problematic loans and alleged impropriety. In one instance, Bridging’s largest borrower allegedly transferred $19.5-million into the personal chequing account of then Bridging CEO David Sharpe, Ms.
When Bridging first advanced its loan to Mr. Mizrahi in 2012, the lender had just opened its doors and was largely funded by Ms. Coco and her family. Ms. Coco and her brother, Rocky, are the principals behind asphalt giant Coco Paving Inc. and they partnered with Ms. Sharpe to create the lender. Under the first Sprott Bridging loan agreement, the Mizrahi debt was set to mature in June, 2015, but Mr. Mizrahi had the right to extend it for one six-month period. Beyond that, many details of the assignment remain murky.
However, it is unclear why Bridging’s loan to Mr. Mizrahi still has not been repaid even as The One progresses.Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail The lender charged a high interest rate to account for the risk. The original loan charged 20 per cent annually and the transferred loan charged 12.4 per cent annually. But Bridging marketed the Income Fund by stressing a focus on a type of lending known as factoring – loans backed by receivables. Bridging also emphasized lending against hard collateral.
Court and land title records show that Bridging also has some security in the form of property that could be seized or sold in the event of default, with a claim on a retail store space at 181 Davenport that was owned by one of Mr. Mizrahi’s companies. Rents collected from that space were supposed to be assigned to Bridging, public records show. The space is currently being used as a sales centre for The One.